Spring Fever
by Sunscorched
Summary: Babies really do take the fun out of life.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Spring Fever

Dislcaimer: I own nixies.

Notes: I will finish Wild Night soon. I promise with everything in me!!

&&&&&&

Prologue…

Her head had been in her hands so long, her palms were growing clammy with the warmth of her uneven breath. Try as she might, she simply didn't dare to look up and see the expression she knew would be on her best friend's face. She concentrated instead on keeping the nauseating panic to a minimum.

"Tifa," Aeris spoke with a gentle tone that had, at one time, irritated the brunette. "You can't hide forever."

Couldn't she? it wouldn't be too hard. A barricade for the doors, a few bars and heavy drapes for the windows, attack dogs for the yard, and a piranah infested moat. See? She could hide forever.

The blonde waited for a reply, but when there was none, she spoke again. "It's okay, you know."

No, it wasn't okay. It was so far from okay, it was on a different page. Tifa still said nothing.

Aeris sighed. After years of being friends, one would think she'd be used to the stubborness by now. Obviously, patience wasn't her strongest point at this moment in time. She blew out a soft breath. "You can't ignore this, Tif. Seriously."

That was an understatement if ever there was one. However, it did have the desired effect. "There's nothing to ignore." She wondered how many times those words would have to be repeated before they turned honest.

"I've known you half my life and you've never been later than a week, let alone seven. The not knowing has to be driving you crazy. Can you honestly tell me you can wait another four days to find out?"

Tifa didn't need to answer. Aeris blew out a soft breath. "What's the worst that can happen, huh? So what if it's positive? You're in your twenties, you have a decent job, a home, financially secure…" She paused. "Unless you don't want it to be positive?"

"It's not that I don't want it to be positive. I'm frightened Aeris, really frightened. What if it is positive? What will I do then?" There was too much to think about and the thoughts were going to fast for her focus on one problem at a time.

She got a smile in response. "There's only one way to find out," and the box was once again held out to the brunette curled up on her couch. With her long dark hair tied up in a messy ponytail, Aeris could fully see just how terrified Tifa was.

"Maybe I shouldn't find out…"

The comment brought a grin to the blonde's face. There was the Tifa Lockheart she knew and loved. "What? And be pleasantly surprised in nine months?"

"It could work."

"No," the younger woman firmly stated. "You're going to take the test now, even if I have too drag you to the bathroom myself." A brief nod finished the statement and she crossed her arms, insinuating she would not be moved on this.

Seeing the good humour about to disappear, Aeris took a deep breath and agreed this wasn't the time to be making jokes like it wasn't a big deal. It was a big deal, if not a huge one.

Tifa fell silent for a moment or two before she, too, snatched in a large breath and nodded. "You're right, I know, but God! Come on, let's get this done." With that, she uncurled her body from the corner sofa, listening to it creak in response and offhandedly made a mental note to get it repaired.

Aeris quickly followed suit., the box still clutched in one hand. "You won't be alone in this," she stated quietly, "You have all eight of us."

Tifa said nothing as she grabbed the box and went into the bathroom, barely remembering to close the door behind her. Once safely behind a locked door, the brunette collapsed onto the toilet seat and sagged against the back of it, her eyes closed as if to block everything out.

What Aeris said about not being alone was simultaneously right and wrong. She knew she wouldn't want for anything when it came to her friends, no, her family. She knew they would be there whether she wanted them or not. At the same time, she couldn't share it all with them.

Yes, Tifa had confessed to having a holiday fling when in Costa Del Sol, but she hadn't confessed the identity of her lover. She wanted too, but didn't feel she could.

Cloud Strife, her best friend and boyfriend of friend, was in his Platoon. Yuffie Kisaragi's hometown had felt his wrath during the Wutai War. Cid Highwind and Barrett Wallace both had run-in's with him during the clean-up after the 1997 Meteor shower.

Fact was, if this little situation hadn't came up, Tifa may have used her connections to contact him, but this little situation did. She couldn't use their mutual acquaintances to get in touch with him now. He did say he'd received a few marriage proposals from women and girls; he'd probably also had them telling this.

She shook her head. He didn't have to know, not really. It wasn't as if they'd been in love or anything. Sure, there'd been sparks, but it didn't go beyond lust. At least, she was certain it didn't go past lust on his part. On hers?

Tifa knew that given enough time, then hell yes, she could've fallen in love with him. Maybe a part of her already was. She'd only slept with one other person and that hadn't been love. Far from it, in fact.

She was a hormone driven eighteen year old and Zack was the guy every girl wanted to tame. He'd been on medical leave for a few months and they'd dated for pretty much all of it. Bright green eyes combined with dark, spiky hair, and the body of a God.

Yes. Zack had been a major cutie, but when compared to her recent lover, he was nothing but a boy.

"Enough Tifa," she hissed. "Just get it done."

_Five minutes later__…_

"Well?"

Tifa inched open eye and Aeris grimaced when she saw the nervousness in her friend's gaze. "It's no good. I can't look."

The blonde nibbled on her lower lip, gesturing to the object Tifa held in a white-knuckled grip. "Here, I'll see."

"Oh God!" Shaking hands covered a pale face and slender digits muffled the drawn out groan that escaped. How could she have been so stupid? Scratch that. How could they have been so stupid?

This kind of thing took two people, not just one. A part of her blamed him, damned to the bowels of hell, but another part of her was happy he was the father. He was a good man. Strong, independent, gentlemanly, and incredibly handsome. Everything a woman could want, he was.

Tifa nudged her other eye open. "Have you looked yet?" She felt like such a coward and she hated herself for it, but she just couldn't do it.

The blue eyes of Aeris shone with kindness and trepidation as she offered a weak smile to her friend before glancing down at the object now in her position. Two pretty pink lines greeted her.

The look on the blonde's face was enough to confirm the suspicions. "I am, aren't I?" Tifa quizzed unnecessarily. "I'm pregnant."


	2. Chapter 2

Part 1: The Beginning.

Slow footsteps took Tifa Lockheart to the shoreline, her smiling eyes pointed down to see the prints left in the soft white sand. Glancing back up, she sighed and took a deep breath, allowing the salty air to fill her lungs.

_Finally_, she thought, _a vacation_. Usually, her vacations were more business than pleasure. Since she got promoted at Shin-Ra Hotels, Tifa's vacations tended to revolve around making contracts with suppliers for imported goods and everything else business like, but this vacation was different.

Her hotel was paid for out of her own pocket, not company expenses. Her hotel was outside of the main city, not among the hustle and bustle. There was no Rufus 'The President' Shin-Ra, no Scarlet 'Slap Happy' Shaw, and no Turks.

Sure, being the chief Bar Manager for Shin-Ra Hotels was great. It paid very well, she got to travel, show off her skills as a cocktail maker and shaker, not to mention rubbing shoulders with the occasional famous person, but it had it's downsides. It seemed whenever she went away on business, she was always plagued to do a guest spot of bartending at some joint or another.

Or she was stuck inside a stuffy conference room or office, for hours on end, while trying to finalise the details for stock. Then there was the case of the fat cat men she was stuck with in that stuffy conference room. They saw a single female, they assumed she was a walkover, and nothing could be further from the truth.

A woman didn't get anywhere without being a little ruthless and hard-hearted. On that score, Tifa could see why Scarlet was such bitch at times. Working in a male dominated area was definitely not an easy task.

"Hmm," she murmured. There was one rule of her vacation broken already. Oh well. She vowed not to think or talk about work for the rest of the two weeks. All those thoughts were banished as she stared out at the vast ocean.

The water was a cerulean blue, so crystal, she swore she could see the floor. White waves broke the calm surface, splashing off near-by cliffs and crashing down with a comforting sound. Sand was warm and Tifa wiggled her toes, feeling it slide under her bare feet. The ticklish sensation brought a grin to her face, as did the surfboard clutched in her right hand.

She had six solid weeks of paid vacation, which had been built up over the last year or two, and she was using two of them now. She was going to squeeze every last drop of life out of the sun, sea, and sand before reality could decide to be inconsiderate.

Oh yeah. This was the life.

Tifa grabbed her surfboard tighter and ran towards the waves. "Yeeeehawww!"

&&&&&&&

A leave of absence?

General Sephiroth stood in professor Gast's examination room in Soldier's medical centre, not paying one iota of attention to what was being said.

A leave of absence, Professor Gast said.

He could not take a leave of absence with the death threats towards Mr. Shin-Ra increasing. Not that he would take a leave of absence anyway. He did not need one and he said as much.

"No?" Was the question.

"I am perfectly healthy."

"I took the liberty of acquiring your records, both medical and military," the professor informed the general as he thumbed through a rather thick file. Each page told a different story that had Gast's greying eyebrows rising higher and higher. Finally he came to the page he wanted.

"Please, take a seat General."

"I prefer to stand."

Gast sighed in resignation. "If you must. Let's see now… Ah, on the 23rd of March, you sustained a serious head trauma from a cannon, severed from the T15 tank?" The man's eyebrows touched his receding grey hairline. "A tank cannon?"

Sephiroth's face expressed nothing but boredom. "Where do people get these rumours from?" He shook his head, feigning shame.

"It wasn't a tank cannon?"

"No. It was Officer Strife's rocket launcher."

Brown eyes peered over the rim of thin glasses and he pinned the general with an unreadable stare. "This resulted in temporary, short-term amnesia?"

"I forget." Obviously, his tactical defence strategies were better than his verbal.

The professor didn't particularly want to know how a fellow officer's weapon landed on the general's head. "On the 19th of May, you were almost decapitated by a car door after policing the Midgar Slum Riots?"

Almost being the operative word. "I ducked." The Special Services advanced training and survival programme taught valuable lessons.

Gast ignored the sarcastic comment and continued reading. "On the 24th of May, you were attacked and mauled by a Dragon in the Northern Continent, only managing to save yourself by using your left hand to place a live grenade inside the creature's mouth. Is this correct?"

"My right hand was busy." Yes. Busy trying to choke the life out of the thing before he became it's last meal.

Again, the professor ignored the general. "Ah! This is my personal favourite. During the 1997 Meteor shower, a particularly large piece landed 50 meters from the motorcycle you were riding. The resulting shockwave sent your bike, and you, plummeting down a 40 foot ravine, where you lay for 36 hours before climbing up."

"It's a hobby," Sephiroth stated, "Keeps me fit."

Professor Gast resisted the urge to laugh hysterically and instead fiddled with his glasses. He breathed in, then out, then in and out again before he spoke. "Sir," he began, fully aware the general could snap his neck in a second. "In my opinion, you need a break."

A break? "Which bone?" Sephiroth asked as he examined his arms and legs, not entirely aware of what the doctor was saying.

Gast sighed. Obviously there was no easy way to say this. "I'm placing you on medical leave for stress."

"Leave?" The general blinked. "Stress?" He blinked again. "I'm not stressed."

"No?"

"No!" Sephiroth yelled, then got a hold of himself. "I'm perfectly fine."

"Of course you are," Gast agreed. "And when was the last time you took a vacation?"

"Vacation?"

"Yes, a vacation. The thing where you do nothing."

"I..." Good question. Sephiroth had the decency to scratch his head in confusion. "I forget."

"The amnesia," Gast sarcastically stated, but it went unnoticed, and he began to scribble in the file. "Four weeks," he said firmly. "One month of rest and relaxation. Then, and only then, will you be allowed back to work."

Mako enhanced green eyes narrowed. "Impossible," the general snapped. "I'm assigned to Mr. Shinra..."

The professor was unmoved by Sephiroth's words. "Yes, and that's in five weeks. One weel after you return to work. For now, you're on medical leave for stress."

"Stress?" How dare the doctor?

"I dare because it's the only way to deal with a man like you. Now if you don't mind, I have other patients." Gast rose from his seat to escort the general out and see his next client in.

"A month?" Sephiroth half yelled. "A month?"

"Goodbye sir, and enjoy your vacation."


End file.
